Disciplinary Counsel v. Doherty (Slip Opinion)

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as

Disciplinary Counsel v. Doherty, Slip Opinion No. 2020-Ohio-1422, 2020-Ohio-1422.]

NOTICE

This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in an

advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested to

promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 65

South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other

formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before

the opinion is published.

SLIP OPINION NO. 2020-OHIO-1422

DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL v. DOHERTY.

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it

may be cited as Disciplinary Counsel v. Doherty, Slip Opinion No.

2020-Ohio-1422.]

Judges—Misconduct—Driving while intoxicated—Jud.Cond.R. 1.2 and 1.3—

Failure to act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the

independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary—Abuse of the

prestige of judicial office to advance personal interests—Public reprimand.

(No. 2019-1736—Submitted January 29, 2020—Decided April 14, 2020.)

ON CERTIFIED REPORT by the Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme

Court, No. 2019-024.

______________

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Respondent, Judge Rebecca L. Doherty, of Ravenna, Ohio, Attorney

Registration No. 0058416, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1992. She

is a sitting judge of the Portage County Common Pleas Court.

SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

{¶ 2} In a May 20, 2019 complaint, relator, disciplinary counsel, alleged

that during Doherty’s arrest for operating a vehicle while under the influence of

alcohol (“OVI”) in February 2019, she failed to act in a manner that promotes

public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary

and abused the prestige of her judicial office to advance her personal interests.

{¶ 3} Based on the parties’ stipulations and the testimony of Doherty and

her two character witnesses at her hearing before a panel of the Board of

Professional Conduct, the board found that Doherty committed the charged

misconduct and recommended that she be publicly reprimanded. The board

adopted the panel’s findings and recommendation.

{¶ 4} We accept the board’s findings of misconduct and publicly reprimand

Doherty for the misconduct described below.

Stipulated Facts and Misconduct

{¶ 5} On February 10, 2019, at approximately 9:00 p.m., in snowy weather

conditions, Doherty drove her motor vehicle off the highway and into a ditch. The

responding police officer observed vomit inside Doherty’s car and a strong odor of

alcohol coming from Doherty’s person. In response to the officer’s questions,

Doherty stated that she had driven her vehicle off the side of the road and that she

had been drinking alcohol. When the officer asked Doherty to identify herself, she

responded with her name and stated several times that she was a Portage County

common pleas judge. Doherty was unsteady and almost fell multiple times while

walking up the embankment to the side of the road. And after being placed in the

back of the cruiser, she exclaimed, “I am so intoxicated[!]”

{¶ 6} At the police station, Doherty partially performed one of the three

standardized field sobriety tests and refused to take a breathalyzer test. She asked

the officers to take her home, and when they did not comply she repeatedly

demanded that they call her friend—a local sheriff’s deputy. She was arrested and

charged with a first-degree-misdemeanor count of OVI.

2

January Term, 2020

{¶ 7} At her first court appearance, Doherty entered a guilty plea and

apologized to the court and the public for her misconduct. She also made a

statement to the news media acknowledging her poor judgment and apologizing for

its negative reflection on the judiciary. The court sentenced Doherty to 180 days

in jail with 177 days suspended, suspended her driver’s license for one year, and

ordered her to pay a fine of $1,075 with $700 suspended on the conditions that she

have no other drug- or alcohol-related convictions for two years and complete a

driver-intervention program. Doherty paid her fine and received a three-day jail-

time credit in exchange for her having completed the driver-intervention program.

{¶ 8} The parties stipulated and the board found that Doherty’s conduct

violated Jud.Cond.R. 1.2 (requiring a judge to act at all times in a manner that

promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the

judiciary) and 1.3 (prohibiting a judge from abusing the prestige of judicial office

to advance the personal or economic interests of the judge).

Stipulated Sanction

{¶ 9} When imposing sanctions for attorney misconduct, we consider all

relevant factors, including the ethical duties that the lawyer violated, the

aggravating and mitigating factors listed in Gov.Bar R. V(13), and the sanctions

imposed in similar cases.

{¶ 10} No aggravating factors are present in this case. See Gov.Bar R.

V(13)(B). As for mitigating factors, the parties stipulated and the board found that

Doherty did not have a prior disciplinary record, had cooperated in the disciplinary

process, had other penalties and sanctions imposed for her conduct, and had

submitted 13 letters and the testimony of two witnesses attesting to her good

character and reputation. See Gov.Bar R. V(13)(C)(1), (4), (5), and (6). The board

also found that she had not acted with a dishonest or selfish motive and had made

a timely, good-faith effort to rectify her misconduct by pleading guilty and publicly

apologizing for her behavior. See Gov.Bar R. V(13)(C)(2) and (3). In addition,

3

SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

Doherty submitted a report from Anderson R. Hawes, L.P.C.C., L.S.W., L.I.C.D.,

who had assessed her and found that she did not have a substance-abuse disorder,

emotional disorder, or psychological disorder and that she was appropriately

remorseful about her decision to drink and drive. Hawes concluded that no

treatment or counseling was necessary. After reviewing Hawes’s report and having

an in-depth conversation with Doherty, the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program

concluded that there was no need for Doherty to enter into a contract with the

program.

{¶ 11} The board recognized that a judge’s operation of a vehicle while

intoxicated imperils public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary. It also stated

that a judge’s repeated nonresponsive statements about being a judge during the

judge’s arrest is an abuse of the prestige of the office—even when they are “borne

of the lip-loosening effects of alcohol.” Citing two cases in which then sitting

jurists were publicly reprimanded for driving while under the influence of alcohol,

the board recommends that we publicly reprimand Doherty for her misconduct in

this case. See Disciplinary Counsel v. Marshall, 143 Ohio St.3d 62, 2015-Ohio-

1187, 34 N.E.3d 110; In re Complaint Against Resnick, 108 Ohio St.3d 160, 2005-

Ohio-6800, 842 N.E.2d 31.

{¶ 12} After independently reviewing the record and relevant precedent, we

agree that a public reprimand is the appropriate sanction in this case.

Conclusion

{¶ 13} Accordingly, Rebecca L. Doherty is publicly reprimanded for the

misconduct described above. Costs are taxed to Doherty.

Judgment accordingly.

KENNEDY, FRENCH, FISCHER, DEWINE, DONNELLY, and STEWART, JJ.,

concur.

O’CONNOR, C.J., not participating.

_________________

4

January Term, 2020

Joseph M. Caligiuri, Disciplinary Counsel, for relator.

Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, L.L.C., and Peter T. Cahoon, for

respondent.

_________________

5